Apple iPhone 5 jacked up to $3,000 on eBay

Standing in line for Apple’s new iPhone 5 may have been worth the wait: The device is currently going for as much as $3,000 on eBay — approximately 15 times what you’d pay for a 16GB version with a wireless contract.

Of course, $3,000 for an iPhone 5 is an anomaly, even in the super-inflated eBay market. A quick search shows many in the $700 to $950 range (for the 16GB, carrier-locked version). An “unlocked” iPhone 5 will generally cost you between $1,000 and $1,500 on eBay today, which could be worth it to people who want the device now, and plan to do some international traveling in the next month.

The iPhone 5, which sports a 4-inch display, 4G LTE connectivity, a faster processor, iOS 6, and (for better or worse) a new “Lightning” dock connector, typically starts at $200 for the 16GB, up to $400 for the 64GB version, with a two-year contract from AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. But considering that many stores have reportedly sold out of the device, and shipping time for an online order is up to a month away, the jacked up eBay prices may well be worth it.

Fully unlocked versions of the iPhone 5 are not officially available, though Apple will eventually sell the device for $650 and up. However — this is a big however — iDownloadBlog has confirmed that the Verzion (CDMA) version of the iPhone 5 is GSM unlocked, meaning you can pop in an AT&T Micro SIM card, and use it on AT&T’s network.

If you ask us, it’s best to just take a deep breath, and wait for the excitement to calm down and the kinks to work themselves out. But if you’re the impatient (and rich) type, then hit up eBay. There are plenty of iPhone 5s over there.